BASIL POLEDOURIS

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Basil Poledouris credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa, the second was his Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the church, and used to sit in services, enthralled with the choir’s sound. At age 7 he began piano lessons, and eventually enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both film and music. Several short films to which he contributed still reside in the university’s archives. At USC he met directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with both of whom the composer would later collaborate. In 1985, he scored Flesh & Blood for director Paul Verhoeven, again establishing another collaboration that would yield more cooperations in later years.

Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs, and garnered attention for his scores to The Blue Lagoon (1980; dir: Kleiser), Conan the Barbarian (1982; dir: Milius), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Red Dawn (1984; dir: Milius), RoboCop (1987; dir: Verhoeven), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Free Willy (1993) and Free Willy 2, Starship Troopers (1997; dir: Verhoeven) and For Love of the Game (1999).

His studio, Blowtorch Flats, is located in Venice, CA and is a professional mixing facility specializing in film and media production.

Poledouris married his wife, Bobbie, in 1969 and had two daughters, Zoë and Alexis. The elder, Zoë Poledouris, is an actress and film composer who occasionally collaborated with her father composing film soundtracks.

His score for Conan The Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written and by me as the greatest film score ever written.

He spent the last four years of his life living on Vashon Island, in Washington state, and died on November 8, 2006 in Los Angeles, California, aged 61, due to complications from cancer.
FILMOGRAPHY
1966  The Reversal of Richard Sun
1970  The Interview
1971  Congratulations, It’s A Boy!
1972  By Map and Compass
1973  Extreme Close-Up
1974  Three for the Road
1977  The Andros Targets [TV Series]
1977  Tintorera - The Silent Death
1978  Big Wednesday
1979  90028
1979  Dolphin
1980  The Blue Lagoon
1980  Defiance
1981  Fire on the Mountain [TV Movie]
1981  The House of God (H.O.G.)
1981  A Whale For The Killing
1982  Conan The Barbarian
1982  Summer Lovers
1983  Flyers
1984  Amazons
1984  American Journeys
1984  Conan The Destroyer
1984  The House of God
1984  Making The Grade
1984  Protocol
1984  Red Dawn
1984  Single Bars, Single Women
1985  Alfred Hitchcock Presents [TV Series]
1985  Flesh+Blood
1985  Misfits Of Science
1985  Prison for Children
1985  The Twilight Zone [TV Series]
1986  Iron Eagle
1987  Amerika [Miniseries]
1987  Cherry 2000
1987  Island Sons
1987  No Man’s Land
1987  RoboCop
1988  Intrigue
1988  Spellbinder (Witching Hour)
1988  Split Decisions
1989  Farewell to the King
1989  L.A. Takedown
1989  Lonesome Dove
1989  Why Me?
1989  Wired
1990  The Hunt For Red October
1990  Nasty Boys [TV Series]
1990  Quigley Down Under
1991  Flight Of The Intruder
1991  Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man
1991  Return To The Blue Lagoon
1991  White Fang
1992  Ned Blessing
1992  Wind
1993  Free Willy
1993  Hot Shots! Part Deux
1993  RoboCop 3
1994  The Jungle Book
1994  Lassie
1994  On Deadly Ground
1994  RoboCop: The Series [TV Series]
1994  Serial Mom
1995  Danielle Steel’s Zoya [TV Movie] (themes)
1995  Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
1995  Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
1996  Amanda
1996  Celtic Pride
1996  It’s My Party
1996  The War at Home
1997  Breakdown
1997  Starship Troopers
1997  Switchback
1998  Les Miserables
1999  For Love of the Game
1999  Kimberly
1999  Mickey Blue Eyes
2000  Cecil B. Demented (co-composer)
2000  If These Walls Could Talk 2
2001  Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
2001  Love and Treason [TV Movie]
2002  The Touch
2005  The Legend of Butch and Sundance [TV Movie] *
* just released on Movie Score Media (limited edition)
NOMINATIONS
1983 Saturn Award Best Music for Conan The Barbarian (1982)
AWARDS
1988 BMI Film Music Award for RoboCop (1987)

1989 Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) for Lonesome Dove (1989) (mini)

1990 BMI TV Music Award for Lonesome Dove (1989) (mini)

1991 BMI Film Music Award for The Hunt for Red October (1990)

1994 BMI Film Music Award for Free Willy (1993)

1997 Special Recognition, shared with: John Williams, Stephen James Taylor, Michael Kamen, Kenneth ’Babyface’ Edmonds, David Foster, Linda Thompson "The Olympic Tribute Award".

2006 GoldSpirit Award from BSOSpirit
VIDEOSJOHN FRIZZELL introducing MAESTRO POLEDOURIS IN UBEDA

Finale from WHITE FANG (1991. Dir. Randal Kleiser)

Battle scene from FLESH + BLOOD (1985. Dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Shoot ’em up scene from HOT SHOTS PART DEUX (1993. Dir. Jim Abrahams)
Klendathu Drop scene from STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997. Dir. Paul Verhoeven)

Fan-assembled clips from CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982. Dir. John Milius)
TODAY’S VISITORS MAP

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Note about the featured mp3’s
- unless otherwise stated all mp3’s are taken from officially released and commercially available releases, so I heartly encourage you to look for these cd’s and buy the originals.
- most of the audio samples present on this page are just a clip from the actual track
- the playlist is changed frquently, so you can enjoy more of Maestro Poledouris’ wonderful music.
NEWS
27 March 2008 - Various Basil photo uploaded to the photos section. My deepest appreciations to Zoe Poledouris for her help.

25 March 2008 - Uploaded a suite from the The Legend of Butch And Sundance cd , enjoy!
27 February 2008 - Basil’s final score The Legend of Butch And Sundance cd released in a limited edition of 1500 copies. I urge you to buy it now before it is too late.